The Volokh Conspiracy
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My New Boston Globe Article on why Massachusetts Should Reject Rent Control, and Instead End Exclusionary Zoning
Rent control would only make the housing crisis worse. Zoning reform would make things better.
Today, the Boston Globe published my article on why rent control is a terrible approach to addressing the housing crisis. Massachusetts should instead ban exclusionary zoning. Here is an excerpt:
Massachusetts may have a rent control measure on its 2026 ballot, which would restrict rent increases throughout the state. Advocates claim rent control would alleviate the state's housing crisis. They couldn't be more wrong. Rent control is a proven failure that actually exacerbates housing shortages. The state should instead ban exclusionary zoning, which restricts the types of housing that can be built in a given area. That could truly alleviate shortages and make housing more affordable.
Rent control is condemned by a broad consensus of economists and housing experts across the political spectrum. Jason Furman, former chair of Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, notes that "[r]ent control has been about as disgraced as any economic policy in the tool kit." A recent meta-study in the Journal of Housing Economics found that while it effectively slows rent increases in controlled units, it has multiplenegative effects, including reduction in the quantity and quality of available housing….
By contrast, ending exclusionary zoning across the state would greatly increase housing construction and reduce rents, while empowering property owners to have greater control over their land….
Extensive research by economists and other scholars finds that exclusionary zoning massively increases housing prices and prevents millions of people from "moving to opportunity" — taking up residence in places where they could find better jobs and educational options. Exclusionary zoning has a long history of being used to keep out minorities and poor people. It also greatly increases homelessness by pricing low-income people out of the housing market.
I grew up in Massachusetts — where my parents and I arrived as poor recent immigrants in 1980 — and owe much to the opportunities the state has to offer. Curbing exclusionary zoning would help ensure that more people of all backgrounds could access those opportunities….
Zoning is often viewed as a tool to protect the interests of current homeowners, many of whom support "NIMBY" ("not in my backyard") restrictions on building. But many homeowners would have much to gain from ending restrictions on housing construction. They would benefit from added economic growth and innovation, increases in the value of their property if it could be used to build multifamily housing, and lower housing costs for their children.
Current property owners would also benefit from having the right to use their land as they see fit. Advocates of local control of land use should embrace YIMBYism ("yes in my backyard"): Letting property owners decide how to use their own land is a far greater level of local control than allowing local governments to impose one-size-fits-all regulations.
YIMBY zoning reform unites experts across the political spectrum. Supporters range from progressives such as Furman and former president Joe Biden's Council of Economic Advisers to free-market advocates such as Edward Glaeser of Harvard, one of the world's leading housing economists….
There is much room for zoning-reform progress in Massachusetts. The National Zoning Atlas recently surveyed the state's zoning rules and found that about 63 percent of the state's residential land is restricted to single-family homes only (including some where multifamily construction is permitted only after a special public hearing, which can be easily manipulated by NIMBY forces to block development). Many communities also have other severe restrictions, such as minimum lot sizes and parking mandates (imposed on 76 percent of residential land).
I would add that most of these problems are far from unique to Massachusetts. Other states should also reject rent control and instead embrace YIMBYism.
